-POV: Lord's Bodyguard-

The wagon moved along slowly behind me and the trees trembled in the wind, rustling the leaves. Any monsters along the path so far had already fled. While I was far from the strongest, my brother had already reached a point where weak beasts would flee. This was the source of our ease, and later, the source of torment for myself and my lord.

My lord was young, only the mere age of nineteen, yet as far as I knew he was wise beyond his years. While he held no chance to become the next lord, his chances of doing something great were high too. Hence our departure to the capital trade port of the Federation, a country not our own. However, our luck did not last the entire trip. A few days outside of Talis, we were attacked.

The creature was native to the grasslands, a single horned bison, though better known a gentain. Large, the size of a man and a half, it’s legs and belly covered in rough brown scales, and a shaggy fur on its back. The most obvious feature was the large, curved horn atop its low hanging head. Unlike the bison, they were aggressive and a magic beast. When young I had seen a few during my hunts for the guild. They stay alone, don’t travel in a herd, and will tear apart creatures that approach them.

While we were only days from crossing into the grasslands of Ronacria, such a creature was unexpected. The lord came here throughout his childhood numerous times. My brother stood to fight the monster, and I did my best to free the lord from his carriage. After moving him into the woods, hopefully far enough from the beast, I returned to see my brother, landing the final blow on the beast before it caught him on its horn mid-charge.

He was thrown to the scatter with a splatter of blood and the beast’s horn tore off as it crashed to the ground near him. I dragged him off the road and prayed for a miracle.

“Bevin,” my lord ordered, “I’ll put something on the wound. Go see if anyone is approaching and tell them I’ve requested aid.”

“But-“ I was interrupted by my lord.

“Do as I have ordered! Lest you want your brother to perish to the call of the Underworld!” I nodded quickly and watched the winding road for only a few unbearable minutes. Atop the slow sloping hill, a woman in a white cloak, far whiter than anything a commoner such as myself could afford, was approaching. I stood in the midst of the road, waiting for her to address me.

The woman almost seemed to ignore me as she slowly bent down at the blood my brother had left. Her eyes moved to the bloodied and broken horn in silence. I saw her fair eyebrows lower, and she looked to me.

“Bring me to the wounded,” she ordered. I stood there a moment, realizing she knew the blood wasn’t from the beast in bewilderment before nodding.

“This way! The gentain caught him in the side and he’s bleeding terribly,” I said, motioning towards the woods quickly.

“How long has it been?” she asked, moving towards me just as fast as I had motioned my hand.

“A few moments at best,” I answered her rapidly as I moved.

“Then we have time,” she said before tearing towards our frantically constructed camp. I followed behind her at a run.

“It’s just up ahead!” I called out, and she made it into the small clearing. As I trudged through a bush on my entry, she moved towards my brother, eyeing his wound. She dropped to a knee and her brows furrowed.

“We need to remove this armor,” she said, gesturing towards me with her hand. 

I nodded in a panic, removing my knife from its sheath. As I crouched down next to her, I caught my lord's eye. He nodded and I cautiously moved my other hand to my sword. The woman’s white cloak caught the light for a moment before I started cutting at the leather straps and opened the chest piece slowly.

She bent forward with a gesture that bade me to move, and as I did so she began to speak. “Needle and thread, yarn might work as well. And bring me a flame and stick of some kind.” I nodded and she turned towards my lord as I ran towards our luggage. “You there, grab a cloth of some kind and bring it here.”

My lord eyed her for a moment and took his cloak off. “Will this do?”

“Tear it in half,” I heard her say as I dug through the chest for a moment. As I removed the needles for the lord’s sewing kit, I heard the distinct sound of cloth ripping. When I turned around, cotton thread in hand, I saw my brother flinch as she pressed the cloth onto his open wound.

“He’s quite lucky, While he’s bled a fair amount, no major arteries were struck and his kidney is bruised at best. Rib seems to be fractured but not broken,” the woman had taken her gaze from my lord to my brother’s stomach. I approached slowly and she turned to take the needle and thread. “This should work.”

My lord had his hands touched by some of my brother’s blood as the woman turned back, “Are you a physician?”

“Of a kind, yes,” she answered and gestured at my lord. He lifted the cloak as she turned to it. “I’ll still need that torch, it’s better if the stick has a smoother end as well.” My lord looked at her as I ran towards the wagon.

The monster’s body was still, though I could still feel a presence from its body. I’m no mage, nor scholar, however I was not unlike my brother in one way. The mana inside me gave me a body somewhat stronger than others. So, when a beast was strong, I could feel it, like my blood trembling in a way.

I tore out one of the spokes and grabbing another, wrapping the first in some cloth before dipping it in the broken lantern. It caught, and I raced back to the camp. My lord was watching the woman as she looked around his body. She lifted his arms, and finally turned back around to me.

“Hold the torch and pass me the stick," I passed it to her in bewilderment. She stuck the rounded end into the torch for a few moments. Then, once it was glowing, she took it out, blew out the fire and directed the lord to lift.

He did so and the woman stuck the burning end into my brother’s gaping wound. After a few moments of him writhing, she pulled it out and then had my lord put pressure on it. “That should stop major bleeding, but I’ll have to stitch him shut.”

She grabbed the needle and thread from the base of her cloak and had my lord lift it. Miraculously, despite the fatal wound, there was little bleeding. Then, she pierced his skin with the needle and begun sowing him shut. She was deft, and quick. I could tell the practice behind it was a lot.

My lord spoke first, “I’ve never seen a physician do this, especially for a commoner. How curious.”

The woman responded without removing her gaze from his side, “It’s a procedure I’ve rarely used myself. If he’s lucky, he’ll only have lost a few pints.”

My lord blinked, “I don’t recognize that word.”

“Means about glass of ales worth, I suppose,” she tossed the needle away and began knotting the thread. Then she grabbed my dagger and cut the thread beyond the knot that was now on my brother’s flesh. The whole situation felt wrong. Whatever it was, it was beyond my knowing.

“This whole procedure is well beyond what I know of for physicians,” he said, looking closely at my brother’s stomach.

“I didn’t learn it here, and I’m a doctor, not a physician,” she answered. Another word I didn’t recognize.

“I see,” my lord nodded to me and I removed my hand from the hilt of my sword. “Where is your escort?”

“Need I bring one here? Are such beasts common?” The woman inquired.

“I suppose not, but I’d like to offer you a ride. I assume you are headed to Talis as well,” he questioned her, staring at her bloodstained hands.

She looked down at them, “I’m used to such things, but a ride would be appreciated nonetheless.”

“I’m glad to be of assistance,” my lord stood and walked over to me. Zamunzian, he whispered to me. An exiled noble of the empire? Her clothes looked expensive; the white color alone must have costed a terrifying amount. Her shoes were a thick black leather, though I’d never seen leather look like that. The soles were not even covered and sat terribly low on her feet.

Definitely not a commoner then. I’d have to remember my etiquette.